The Coastside Film Society is showing In the Light of Reverence this Friday.

Ten years in the making, In the Light of Reverence explores American culture’s relationship to nature in three places considered sacred by native peoples: the Colorado Plateau in the Southwest, Mt. Shasta in California, and Devils Tower in Wyoming.

Rich in minerals and timber and beloved by recreational users, these “holy lands” exert a spiritual gravity which pulls Native Americans into conflicts with mining companies, New Age practitioners, and rock climbers. Ironically, all sides see themselves as besieged. Their battles tell a new story of culture clashes in an ancient landscape.

The film begins at 8pm at Community United Methodist Church Sanctuary, 777 Miramontes
(corner of Johnston), Half Moon Bay.

The Moore family, builders of the first “American-style” house in what is now Pescadero are profiled by the Daily Journal. The Moore line continues to the present day to Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel. Moore is also the discoverer of Moore’s Law, the tireless tool of lazy analysts and tech pundits.

A fire destroyed a classic Piper J-3 Cub at HMB airport Tuesday. The fire appeared to be electrical and did not damage the plane’s hangar.

The 20th anniversary Coastal Clean Up Day is this Saturday, September 18 from 9am to 12 noon. Join us and a lot of other volunteers on your favorite coastside beach for Coastal Cleanup Day, which is being coordinated in San Mateo County by Save Our Shores.

Each year, more than 40,000 volunteers turn out to over 400 cleanup sites statewide. Since the program started in 1985, over 552,000 Californians have removed almost 8.5 million pounds of debris from our state’s shorelines and coast.

Click on the “read more” link for information from Save Our Shores on how to participate.

Every member of my family at one time or another has received prompt and excellent care at Seton’s Coastside Medical Center emergency room. It’s not just that they’re local. They’re small and friendly. They’re one of the treasures of the community. That’s one of many reasons their annual Teddy Bear Clinic is so important.

Seton will host its 16th Teddy Bear Clinic on Sunday, September 26, 2004, at Seton Coastside in Moss Beach at 600 Marine Boulevard off of Highway 1 [map], from 11 am - 3 pm.  The Teddy Bear Clinic introduces children painlessly to the emergency department and hospital. From the press release:

To help create this positive experience, kids are encouraged to bring in their favorite toy stuffed animal as the “patient”. The child and his or her toy then go through the entire process of the emergency visit in a non-threatening atmosphere.  First, they make an appointment, apply for “Teddy-Cal” insurance, and then have their toys’ vital signs taken along with the toy’s history.  From there, the children are directed to the radiology department (a copy machine), where an “x-ray” is taken, and onto the lab where a “blood sample” is taken. Then it’s on to the waiting room. Of course at the Teddy Bear Clinic, there is hardly ever any waiting time! The doctor, upon examination of the “patient”, orders appropriate treatments like a cast, a shot, or possibly surgery and consults with the child and their stuffed animal. Prescriptions for M&M’s are given which are filled at the pharmacy and then everyone gets a nutritional consultation followed by a visit to the Physical Therapy department.

There are outdooor activites as well, including demonstrations from the Pillar Point Harbor Patrol, Sheriff’s Search and Rescue and the Point Montara and Half Moon Bay Fire Departments. The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office offers fingerprinting services. The Children’s Health Initiative provides information and assistance on obtaining medical insurance for kids and Smokey the Bear and McGruff, the Crime-Fighting Dog both make appearances.  The Knights of Columbus provide hotdogs, popcorn, pretzels and drinks.

If interested in attending or to sign up as a volunteer, please call Cheryl Sinclair 650-563-7121.

We’re still editing our pictures, so the images may change, but all our pictures from the cookoff are now in the album.  The folks you see in the picture took first place in the amateur chowder category, beating the Coastsider soundly.

The Cookoff was great and we had a wonderful time. The music was especially good this year and the stage, with a backdrop of Princeton Harbor, was outstanding. Although there were more entries than last year, the event could have used even more.  If you thought about entering this year, you should definitely do it next year. The best part was seeing our neighbors and friends, meeting some Coastsider readers for the first time, and making some new friends.

Pavel Stera of San Diego won our “Wear our sticker and win our picture” contest. We’re still collecting entries for our other drawing. Please enter by adding a comment to the appropriate story.

Yeah, I know our Cookoff coverage was a little heavy, but it’s all we’ve been doing for the last 48 hours.

The Cookoff didn’t work out like we planned.  I scorched the chowder and I’m not sure I scaled the ingredients up properly. If you tried our chowder on Sunday, it’s not representative of this remarkable chowder.

I got this recipe from my grandmother, who was born on Shelter Island and lived from 1933 to 1983 in East Hampton, NY, back when it was more fishing village than playground of the rich and famous.  Like a lot of classics, it’s pretty simple.

1/4 pound lean salt pork—don’t use bacon

Plenty of clams

3 potatoes

1 large onion

3 celery stalks

2 carrots

1 one-pound can of tomatoes

Fry salt pork out slowly and chop up.

Add vegetables, using more potatoes and onions and not too much of the other vegetables.

Cook about an hour. Add the clams at the last minute, so they don’t overcook and get rubbery.

In conjunction with the Chili and Chowder Cookoff, and to encourage our readers to try posting comments, we’re holding a prize drawing. Whether you’re a first time visitor or a registered user, you can win this framed limited edition sepia photographic print of Point Montara Lighthouse. The print was created by Cheri Parr, who took many of the photos on Coastsider. You can see the print at our booth at the Cookoff.

Registered members: Just post a comment on this story. Just say hello if you like, but you need to comment to be entered.

First time visitors:  Take a minute to register on the site by clicking on the “Register” link in the top left column of this page. Once you’re registered, you will be able to a comment to this story. You will need a valid email address to register, but we strictly protect our readers’ privacy.

To add a comment: Click on the “comments” link at the top of this story, enter the text of your comment in the form at the bottom of the page, and click on the “Submit” button. It doesn’t matter what you say, just add your comment to this story and you’ll be entered into the drawing.

Coastsider will be at the Chili and Chowder Cookoff tomorrow at Pillar Point Harbor.  I hope you’ll come by and say hello to me and the family. This is Coastsider’s first public event and we’re very excited.

We’re serving “Grandma Craner’s Long Island Clam Chowder”, a manhattan-style chowder recipe that I got from my grandmother who lived her entire life in Shelter Island and East Hampton, when it was more fishing village than playground of the rich. I’m going to post the recipe on Coastsider a little later. Right now, if you want to taste it, you’ll have to come to the Cookoff.

We participated in the Cookoff last year I can tell you from personal experience that it’s a great event. The event benefits the Coastside Family Medical Center, which brings medical care to the coast for both the insured and uninsured.

If you live on the coastside, you know this event is coming because the publicity has been relentless. But if you haven’t decided whether you’re going, set aside some time to come see us there.

We’re going to be giving away a framed print by my wife Cheri, whose photos appear on the site, to current and new members who post a comment on a special story I’ll be posting later. You don’t have to come to the cookoff to win.

The pictures at right show folks setting up for tomorrow’s event.

Caltrans says it can now get its construction permit for the tunnel.  Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB792 Friday, directing Caltrans to transfer the land it was to use for the freeway bypass to the California Department of Parks and Recreation. This clears the Coastal Commission’s final appeal of the tunnel. This was reported in the Daily Journal, but looks like it was based on a Caltrans press release.

“Monday we are going to the San Mateo permits office and make sure that all the details are taken care of, and once the permit is in our hands we will be preparing to advertise the first contract of the project, the South Rock Cut,” said Skip Sowko, Caltrans Tunnel public manager.